Vargas debuted in his country's first division in 1995, while playing for Huachipatoon loan from Universidad Católica. After returning from his loan spell Vargas received little playing time for Universidad Católica, and was consequently loaned out during the 1997 season to Coquimbo Unido, where he began to make a name for himself with his solid play. His play did not go unnoticed by Universidad Católica as he returned to the club and began to feature regularly. By 1999 Vargas established himself as the symbol and most prominent member of the club appearing in 38 matches and netting 3 goals. Vargas started drawing interest from Italian clubs and by the end of 1999 was sold to Reggina. With Reggina in the Italian serie A Vargas enjoyed the most successful part of his career, in four years he appeared in 97 league matches scoring 3 goals. In 2003/04 Vargas joined Empoli, but was unable to help the club avoid relegation. After his negative experience with Empoli, Vargas signed with A.S Livorno, where he recaptured the form that made him a standout for Reggina. In two years at the Tuscan club Vargas appeared in 55 league matches. After his successful serie A career Vargas signed on with top Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg for the 2006/07 season. He appeared in 26 league matches helping the club to the Austrian Bundesliga crown. On 29 July 2008, Vargas joined the recently relegated Italian side Empoli. On 25 November 2009, Vargas joined to Spezia Calcio, team from the Serie C2 in Italy.
National team
Vargas made his international debut for Chile on 28 April 1999. He cemented a starting role during his countries 4th-place finish during 1999 Copa América. During the latter months of 2006 and early 2007 Vargas was captain of the Chilean national team. In July 2007 he was punished by the Chilean Football Federation with a 20 match ban for his role in the unruly celebrations for qualifying to the second round of 2007 Copa América, in which several members of the team in a drunken state caused problems at the teams camp. Vargas to this day denies his role. Vargas has represented Chile 52 times, scoring a lone goal versus Uruguay from the penalty spot.
